Making the case for a trade in the first round

With 10 picks in the 2017 draft, Kansas City is in an interesting position at the bottom of the first round.

Last year, Chiefs general manager John Dorsey made a day one trade, sending the 28th and 249th picks to San Francisco in exchange for the 37th, 105th, and 178th.

Many questioned Dorsey’s judgement, thinking the Chiefs could’ve selected one of the playmakers left in the first. But Dorsey proved everyone wrong. The selection of defensive lineman Chris Jones with the 37th overall pick proved to be the linchpin in his excellent 2016 draft class.

But the Chiefs are strapped for cap space right now, so acquiring more picks doesn’t make a ton of sense. Their three picks in the top 100 (and one at 104) should be enough to reap at least one impact player.

The mentality, if the Chiefs decide to trade down, should be to draft for pure-out depth at positions that will be thinned out in the next few years. Positions like nickel corner, backup defensive tackle, slot receiver and second string outside linebacker would likely be targeted en masse throughout the middle rounds.

Another situation that could prompt the Chiefs to trade down would be a quarterback sliding out of the top 30. Although unlikely, anything can happen on draft day. What if all the Deshaun Watson talk is smoke and mirrors? Or the Patrick Mahomes talk for that matter? Sometimes players slide for no apparent reason, and teams with smart GMs take advantage.

Dorsey is known for drafting the best player available. Nobody knows what Kansas City’s draft board looks like except a select few in the Chiefs’ organization, so it’s hard to project exactly what they’ll do. If Dorsey wants to trade for more picks in 2017, or even trade for picks in the 2018 season, he’ll likely start clearing cap room in the next few weeks to accommodate the massive cap hit 10+ selections would occupy.

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The Chiefs also have the option to trade up, which would give them less selections but could land them prospects they really want. Especially with their selection in the first, the Chiefs could do themselves a ton of good to give up a later pick to snag a prospect in the 20-24 range if they think he could come in and contribute immediately.

Some of the players who could be potential trade up candidates are cornerback Marlon Humphrey, receiver Corey Davis, linebacker Reuben Foster or even guys like DL Jonathan Allen, should they take a major slide.

Here’s a chart showing NFL draft pick values for trades. Some teams don’t use this chart, but it’s worth a glance to see what it would take to move up a few spots:

via SB Nation

Dorsey has traditionally been a pretty active GM on draft day, so it’s likely there will be at least one trade while KC is on the clock.